Answering Night The Darklight Remix
by sodalite
Summary: A series of connected drabbles. Elrond comes upon a lonely and frightened hobbit at Rivendell.


TITLE Answering Night (The Darklight Remix)

SUMMARY A series of connected drabbles. Elrond comes upon a lonely and frightened hobbit at Rivendell. Written for **remixredux** from 'Questions and Answers' by Holdur.

***

**1. Night **

_**Stars – Lacuna Coil**_

_"We'll take our hearts outside  
Leave our lives behind  
I'll watch the stars go out"_

The night into which he released his breath was a bizarre one.

Neither warm nor cold, it was strangely chilly, serving as an eerie reminder of a night many years previously.

Elrond did not often find himself unable to maintain a certain level of stillness. Tonight, however, he was as fidgety as an impatient elfling.

One finger ran lightly along the wooden railing. Once, he thought, an elf climbed the tree from which this wood had been taken.

He moved so suddenly that even the air was surprised. Body and ground connected with a peculiar grace.

Rivendell was oddly silent.

**  
2. Enclosure**

_**Empty Sky – Dreaming Blue**_

_"I walk barefoot down the halls  
All my footsteps are ringing  
Frescos faded, bells singing  
All I find here mean nothing"_

Four, Elrond thought, was a curious number. He didn't like it.

There were now four walls surrounding him. Four walls, a door and a roof of idly fluttering leaves.

The idea of enclosure did not endear to him much. He was lucky, though, since he was only enclosed in nature, and not in the mortal curse of death.

He bowed to the stone-carved statue in the corner. A proud man of stone returned a stoic gaze. Alone in his courtyard, Elrond knelt before the stone man and caressed the icy face.

He kissed his brother farewell and stood to leave.

**  
3. Observation**

_**Bed of Flames – Hungry Lucy**_

_" In the flames of truth  
The blind man can see  
The cross won't save you  
Travel with me" _

There were days when Elrond thanked every shred of divinity that he possessed the senses of an elf, and not the dull fog of man.

His reactions were swift enough that it took him only the shortest of blinks of the intruder's eye for him to be hidden.

The trees cast a sinister shadow across the courtyard. The dark silhouette of a small humanoid figure crossed directly in front of the silent elf.

The watchful statue dwarfed the childlike proportions of the trespasser, mocking.

The Hobbit turned to face it and leapt high in fear. Hidden in silence, Elrond watched.

**  
4. Truths**

_**Dark Wings – Within Temptation**_

_"Don't you die on me  
You haven't made your peace  
Live life, breathe, breathe  
Don't you die on me"_

"Be still," Elrond's voice was calm. An intake of startled breath disturbed the tranquil night.

"Lord Elrond!" Frodo spluttered, his words barely coherent.

The Elven Lord resisted the impulse to release a slight and insignificant smirk.

Frodo apologised and bowed his head slightly. "I was thinking of my parents," he admitted, quietly.

Elrond decided that to lay a hand on the Hobbit's arm would not be appropriate. He was not Frodo's father, after all.

"I thought I'd stopped looking," the Hobbit said, suddenly. Elrond looked at him fully, for the first time that night.

"No-one stops looking," he answered, eventually.

**  
5. Words**

_**Two for Tragedy - Nightwish **_

_"No healing hand  
For your disease  
Drinking scorn like water  
Cascading with my tears"_

"You have heard of my children?" Elrond spoke slowly, after a long silence.

Frodo's expression was one that Elrond could only describe as perplexed curiosity.

The Hobbit responded with the affirmative. His expression remained perplexed.

Elrond gave a slight, ironic sigh.

"I trust," he spoke slowly, "that you do not need an education in reproduction?"

Frodo was so startled by this that he stepped backwards into the flowerbed. It was only Elrond's fast, firm grip that prevented him from falling. The elf did not have to say anything. Frodo already understood.

"Come with me," Elrond said.

Silence fell once more.

**  
6. Thoughts**

_**What if we fly? – Chely Wright **_

_"What if the arms of the wind carry us to the place  
We never could find  
Yes we might fall  
But what if we fly"_

Standing on his balcony in the darkness, Elrond could almost feel the dawn approaching.

Frodo had entered only moments previously, but remained motionless in the doorway. It took him a full six minutes to approach the elf, a letter clutched in his hand.

The hobbit smiled. "Thank you," he said, and left.

Yes, Elrond thought, in many ways tonight was similar to the one that had blanketed the world when she had left it.

It was peculiar really, how time comes round in such a way.

Tonight had been a good night.

His smile caught the wind with his breath.


End file.
